News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Pickett County High School students and their parents can hear firsthand accounts about the benefits of dual enrollment at a meeting Thursday night.
Pickett County High School Counselor Amber Steddum said representatives from TCAT and Vol State will be in attendance to inform parents of the opportunities. She said parents may not realize that their children can receive college credit or program certification through these courses.
“Coming into high school, I didn’t have those,” Steddum said. “So it’s grown so much over the last 20 years to help these students get a jumpstart on their education after high school or, you know, certifications after high school for what jobs they think they might want in the future.”
Steddum said Advance Placement representatives will be there to teach juniors and seniors about the chance to receive college credit through AP courses. She said the meeting will be held in the Pickett County High School cafeteria from 5:30pm-6:30pm on Thursday.
“We also offer Vol State classes here where the student can take up to 10 college classes for free,” Steddum said. “And so we try to get them started on that during their junior and senior year. So, we’ll have someone here from Vol State who can talk about that opportunity and what the students can expect from that.”
She said while many students may already know about these programs, they are invited to attend and have further questions answered, as well as get a reminder of the registration processes and important deadlines. She said meetings like these have become far more common as programming options have expanded in recent years,
“These are offered from a lot of different school systems with the dual enrollment program,” Steddum said.
She said parents with rising sophomores, juniors, and seniors are those likely to benefit most from the information that will be shared. She said she works with families every day, but representatives from within the programs can give parents a better feel for how their children can jumpstart their college or professional careers.
